May 27, 2011

China's importation of live hogs for breeding from Europe and North America in the recent years had brought with it the dangerous Eurasian avian-like H1N1 flu virus strain from the European continent.

Researchers from Hong Kong, Singapore and China after a 12-year period of study showed that the swine flu viruses in pigs in Hong Kong came from the said swine imports, reports showed. 

"We found that since 2001, the Eurasian (flu) viruses and North American viruses had entered pig populations in southern China and replaced the earlier viruses," said Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran, assistant professor at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School's Programme of Emerging Infectious Diseases in Singapore.

"The import of breeding pigs has increased in southern China over the 20 years, this was done to improve the breeds," he said.

With the said findings, the researchers have urged government health and animal surveillance to intensify as humans are vulnerable to the Eurasian avian-like H1N1 virus.

"We have this Eurasian avian-like H1N1 virus which we don't have any antibodies (against) ... and it is likely that this virus can spread among humans easily," he added.